The Egyptian Museum

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20 June 2010
1145 (GMT +3)
Giza, Egypt

In one part of his Histories, the Herodotus (c. 490-431 BC) went into some detail about Egypt, its history, people and way of life. (Think 300 for those of you who have no idea who or what I’m talking about.) At the time Herodotus was writing, Egypt had been under the control of the Persian Empire since 525 BC when the Persians overthrew the 26th and last native Egyptian dynasty. (The Persians continued to occupy Egypt until the arrival of Alexander the Great in 332 BC. The Egyptians welcomed Alexander not only as a liberator, but as the son of a god.) Herodotus marveled not only at how backwards Egyptians appeared compared to the Greeks, but also at just how ancient a civilization Egypt was. Today it seems a little funny to us that someone who wrote 2,500 years ago would call someone else ancient, but it does put into perspective just how old Egypt really is. Having now visited the Egyptian Museum - as I did yesterday - I can understand what Herodotus was talking about.

According to touregypt.net, the Egyptian Museum as we know it today was opened in November, 1902. Located downtown on the Midan Tahrir, opposite the Mogamma, The Egyptian Museum is a large, pink structure that is almost impossible to miss. The museum houses over 250,000 artifacts from Egypt’s 7,000 year history, with about 150,000 or so on display, and the remainder in storage or restoration. The artifacts date from the Old Kingdom (before about 2,500 BC) to the Greco-Roman period (until about 400 AD).

Getting to the museum is easy enough. Every taxi driver knows (or should know, so don’t be fooled) where the Midan Tahrir is. If you’re taking the metro, just get off at Sadat station, and you’re right there. Look for the large, pink structure that is almost impossible to miss. The entrance to the museum is on the south side of the building, facing the Mogamma. As always, when in doubt, follow the tour busses.

You’ll go through multiple security checkpoints before you actually get into the museum. The first is a cursory bag check as you walk through the gate. The second is more formal, with an x-ray machine, to get into the courtyard. Once through this point, turn to your right and you’ll see the ticket booth. The entry fee is 60 LE. You might also take this opportunity to check your camera, and anything else that might keep you from passing a standard security screening (like a Leatherman carried in your bag, for example), in the safe room. Cameras are strictly forbidden inside. If you are facing the ticket booth, turn right and on the opposite side of the entry gate you’ll see the safe room. Give the attendant your stuff and he’ll give you a chit. Hold on to this. From here you can enjoy the courtyard, or proceed through the last security check just inside the museum door. (It took me three tries to pass this check.)

The museum is made up of two levels. The ground floor opens up into a large, airy center area filled with stone-carved coffins and other artifacts. The walls of this area are lined with statues of various pharaohs and other figures. On the opposite wall, and facing the entrance, is a colossal statue of the pharaoh Amenhotep III (18th Dynasty, c. 1386-1349 BC), Queen Tiye, and Princess Henuttaneb. Surrounding this area are hallways that run pretty much chronologically. Turn left from the entrance and you’ll start with the Old Kingdom. Work your way around, clockwise, and on the other end you’ll find yourself in the Greco-Roman era.

The problem with the Egyptian Museum is that the artifacts are not very well marked, and many (or most) lack labels entirely. The labels that do exist are in Arabic and English (and sometimes French), and look like they were created on a typewriter in 1956. Thus, for the average tourist with a few extra hours and a few extra pounds on hand, it would probably be beneficial to employ one of the many licensed tour guides that you will find out in the courtyard. The sanctioned guides will all be wearing their ID in plain view, so don’t be fooled. The way I understand it, guides have to go through several exams to be licensed. As I walked the museum I was able to pick up bits from many of the different tours going by, in just about every language you could think of. (In fact, Danger, I saw a Japanese tourist wearing a pristine Philadelphia Eagles hat!) The guides seemed to be very pleasant and very knowledgeable. I normally prefer to see things on my own, but if I do it again, I might hire a guide.

Lining the walls on the lower tier are many slabs of stone with hieroglyphs carved into them. One of the things that stood out to me was the prevalence of the ankh symbol. This is the hieroglyph shaped like a capital ‘T’ with a loop on top. This symbol translates into ‘eternal life,’ and was adopted by the Coptic Christians as their cross.

In the Greco-Roman room, I found something of interest as well. There was a large, stone slab about six feet high and three feet wide, with writing in three different languages. The stone was from the Greek era, with the top third written in hieroglyphics, the Egyptian literary language; Demotic, the popular language of the people; and Greek, the language of the ruling class. This is similar to the Rosetta Stone, which was discovered in the delta town of Rosetta by the French in 1799, and helped scholars translate the ancient hieroglyphics. Thank God for labels, even those that look like they were created on a typewriter in 1956.

The upper deck is organized less chronologically and more by theme. They have a room with a collection of stone works, and another with wood carvings of gods, and ships, and soldiers, and various other figures. Here you will also find the Royal Mummies exhibit, but beware, this requires an additional ticket at an additional cost of 100 LE. For this reason, I chose to forego seeing the mummies. I’ve seen a mummy before (at least I think that is a real mummy at the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop on the Seattle waterfront), and it really holds no interest for me. Along the back wall, though, there is an exhibit of ancient Egyptian jewelry, which was kind of interesting, and one with artifacts from King Tutankhamun’s tomb. Let us remember that King Tut’s tomb was discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter outside of Luxor in 1922.

This is probably the most popular exhibit in the museum and - like the Hope Diamond at the Smithsonian - all the tourists crowd around a glass case in the center of the room which contains the burial mask of the young pharaoh. Made from 11 Kg of beaten gold, this mask was placed over the head of the mummified body. The back side of the mask, around the bottom of the piece, is adorned with hieroglyphic symbols. On the left side of the room, behind the mask, are two of three coffins in which the pharaoh was buried. The innermost coffin, shaped like a person, is made of thick gold, and the mummy was placed inside. This piece was then placed inside a second coffin, made of wood with gold plating. The third and outermost coffin - as well as the mummy itself - is currently located within the tomb itself in the Valley of Kings, outside of Luxor in Upper Egypt. (By the way, if I haven’t mentioned it before, Upper Egypt actually refers to the southern portion of the country, while Lower Egypt refers to the north. This is due to the current of the River Nile, which runs south to north and dumps into the Mediterranean.)

On the opposite side of the same room, there are several artifacts that were found inside the tomb in 1922, including jewelry and one of two daggers that were found resting on the abdomen of the body. One of the daggers had a blade of iron and one of hardened gold. (The one on display is the iron blade.)

Leaving the Tutankhamun room, turn left and you’ll follow the hallway along to the east wall. Here are several statues and other artifacts that were found in many of the chambers surrounding the tomb itself. There are some of the larger statues, which were meant to guard the tomb, as well as many small figurines that were created to serve the pharaoh in the afterlife.

Once you complete this area that is pretty much the museum. All in all it is worth a few hours of your afternoon, especially if it is a hot day. Be aware, though, while it is cooler inside the museum than outside, it is not completely air conditioned.

There is currently a new museum being build in Giza, not far from the Giza Pyramids, that is supposed to be much larger and much more modern than the current museum. Insha' Allah this will take care of some of the organizational and labeling issues in the current museum.

Speaking of hot temperatures, believe it or not, I actually thought about going to see the pyramids today, until I checked the weather. At 1000 it was over 90 degrees outside. Right now, at 1449, it is 109 with an expected high of 113. (In Celsius, I believe that translates to “really freaking hot.”) Not a good day to go out to the desert.

-MG

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Photos

The Egyptian Museum
Just to the right of my ear.

Museum Main Hall
http://image24.webshots.com/25/8/62/77/26986277rKGduEXWaj_fs.jpg

Tut Death Mask
http://imgpe.trivago.com/uploadimages/37/62/3762361_l.jpeg

Courtyard Statue
Can you find the ankh symbol?

Comments

[Ron Gile]

Rick just sent me this site
Matt, very well written and extremely interesting to read. I'm on board. Looks like I have some catching up to do. Ron